


All the times that Damian Wayne felt loved

by BehindTheRobinsMask



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Super Sons (Comics)
Genre: Bruce Wayne is a Good Parent, Gen, Sibling Bonding, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-13
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-21 15:40:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,212
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30024024
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BehindTheRobinsMask/pseuds/BehindTheRobinsMask
Summary: All the times when Damian Wayne was shown that he was loved.
Relationships: Bruce Wayne & Damian Wayne, Dick Grayson & Damian Wayne, Jonathan Kent & Damian Wayne, Talia al Ghul & Damian Wayne
Comments: 2
Kudos: 66





	All the times that Damian Wayne felt loved

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Icosagens](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Icosagens/gifts).



> Song: Here With Me by Elina

i.

Gripping onto a pillow, Damian walked down the dark halls of his grandfather’s house, uncertainty clouding every step that he made. At this hour of the night, no one seemed to be around yet he could feel eyes watching his every move. The eyes of the stars in the sky, the moon and the many trained soldiers that had years of practice when it came to blending into the shadows. It was their presence that forced him to walk with his head held high, to bat away the tears in his eyes and pretend that everything was alright. Pretend that he wasn’t afraid. 

After all, he was the grandson of the demon. The heir of Ra’s Al-Ghul. He could never show any weakness. 

While he should have stayed in his room, tucked into his own bed, after the nightmare that had awoken him so suddenly, he could not go back to sleep no matter how hard he tried. When he was alone, the shadows seemed to whisper to him, shifting and twisting, threatening to make his nightmare real. So, despite knowing that there was a chance he was sent away, picking up his pillow, Damian made his way to his mother’s room. 

Now, standing outside, with his fingers balled into fists, he reached out to knock on the door before stopping. He wasn’t just afraid of his mother sending him away, he was afraid of her thinking that he was weak. While Damian was only seven years old, his family had many expectations of him which is why, every hour of his day went into learning as much as he could, whether it was about the world or survival. One day, he would be the one to lead the League and for that, he needed to prepare. And for someone who was determined to meet the goal that had been set out for him, being weak was simply not an option. 

Maybe, it was best for him to go back to his room. Maybe this was a mistake. 

But before Damian could make up his mind and leave, the door opened. 

“Ah, habibi,” Talia said as she smiled gently for her son, calling him by an endearment that she only used when her father wasn’t around. “I was coming to see you.” 

Hiding away his surprise, Damian cleared his throat, “How can I help you, um-- mother?” he asked, trying to get rid of his habit of calling his mother  _ ummi.  _ This was one of the things that his grandfather disliked. 

The smile on Talia’s face turned a little sad as she stepped to the side, making room for Damian to come in. Once he did, she locked the door behind her. 

“Come,” she said as she motioned for her son to follow her to the bed, patting on the empty side. “It seems that I cannot sleep on my own tonight.”

“Are--are you afraid?” Damian asked even though he knew it was a silly question. There was no woman as strong as his mother and for her to be scared was a preposterous idea. 

“Very much so,” Talia answered as Damian crawled onto the bed, taking his place beside her. “Everyone feels afraid once in a while. There is nothing wrong with that. It is our fear that keeps us alive.” 

“But grandfather said--” Damian started, remembering all the lessons that had been taught to him. But his mother just pressed a finger against his lips. 

“I know. I know,” she whispered and then reached out to dim the lights. “For tonight, it’s okay to feel afraid, habibi. Your grandfather doesn’t have to know.” 

Feeling his mother stroke his hair as he buried himself in the blankets that covered the bed, Damian sighed happily. He knew that come tomorrow, he would have to pretend that the events of the night had never happened. That his mother had never told him that it was okay for him to feel afraid. Once the sun rose, he would go back to training. Back to being a warrior worthy of holding the title of the Demon. Since the day he was born, Talia had known that she could not baby her son or have any illusions that he would grow up the way other children did. 

But just for tonight, she could let him be a child. She could hold him close and chase away his fears.    
  
“Goodnight, ummi,” Damian whispered as he snuggled close to his mother, enveloped by her warmth.  
  
  
ii. 

Since he was a child, Damian understood the fact that no amount of training could prepare him for an actual battle. In the field against an opponent he did not know anything about, there was always an element of unpredictability. And all Damian had ever been taught was how to swing his sword to deliver retribution. Everything that came before it, the research and the analysis that his father seemed to consider so important, it had never meant anything to him. After all, as long as he kept his eyes open and tried to read his opponents moves, he would be alright. 

Damian always knew that he was better than most people when it came to combat. He had been trained for it since the day he could walk. He had every reason, every right to be arrogant, to want to be in the company of only the people he deemed worthy. Considering the environment he was brought up in, he didn’t understand that there was more to a person than their ability to wield a weapon. 

And maybe because of this his arrogance got the best of him. 

For a moment, as his chase after the villain named Professor Pyg took a wrong turn, a twist that he didn’t see coming, Damian was sure that he would lose his life. As his thoughts were thrown into disarray, he simply could not see a way out. All he saw was his mother’s face. All he felt was a strange fear that he would never be able to see her again. 

Yet, somehow, he was alive, breathing in air full of smoke from the fire in the distance. Somehow, the very man that he had looked down on, the one he was sure was unworthy of wearing Batman’s suit had reached out his hand to keep Damian safe. 

“Y-You saved me,” Damian said, confusion lacing every word because he could not understand why anyone would risk their life for him. In a world where only the strong survived, would it not have been better to let him die. 

“Of course,” Dick Grayson said with a smile as he held out his hand for Damian to take. “You’re my Robin.” 

“I’m your Robin,” Damian repeated, slowly understanding the weight of those words. 

After all, the duo of Batman and Robin was one built on trust. They were partners, people who had each other’s back. People who could fight without worries as long as they were together. 

No one had really trusted Damian with anything. His grandfather could never acknowledge him and his mother didn’t think he was skilled enough to stay with her in her time of need. His father never saw him worthy enough to wear Robin’s colours, always suspicious of his every move because of his upbringing. 

But here he was, being trusted with someone’s life, the importance of his position finally settling in.

“Well, then, Robin. Let’s get out of here,” Batman said, a carefree smile on his face but his voice let Damian know he meant business. “We still have some work to take care of.”

There were words stuck in Damian’s throat, ones of gratitude, others of confusion because he still couldn’t understand why he had been saved. Yet, as a strange warmth engulfed him, all he could do was nod. 

That night when Batman took flight, Robin followed in his footsteps with a newfound admiration for his partner. 

iii.

Before opening his eyes, the last thing that Damian remembered was fire, the kind that didn’t burn his skin but instead spread inside his body, etching itself into his soul so just existing was painful. He remembered drowning without choking, further and further into a pit of darkness he’d fall, never reaching the bottom. 

And now that his fall had ended, he was no longer in pain. Instead, the first thing his eyes saw was his father’s face, the tears that rolled down his cheeks, down on his knees. A sight that didn’t make any sense. After all, his father was a strong man who rarely ever let his emotions show on his face. Most of all, his father did not love him. For him, Damian was a stranger, a son that he had never wanted and someone that represented everything he was against. 

Yet, even when the haze in his mind faded, even when his senses slowly came back to him, his father continued to cry. He continued to hold onto Damian as though he was scared that if he let go, his son would disappear.    
  
“Father,” Damian called out, feeling a strange emotion well up in his chest. The kind that almost made him glad to be here. 

“You’re back,” his father whispered, voice breaking as he spoke. 

Then he hugged Damian tightly, wrapping him up in his warmth. And for Damian who had always been so sure that his father hated him, this moment, even if it turned out to be just a figment of his imagination was everything. His father was here and he loved him. 

iv.

Sitting on the edge of the roof, Damian stared at the Metropolis skyline, taking in the stars that shined so clearly, something he rarely got to see in Gotham. The atmosphere between the two cities was different. While Gotham had a foreboding aura, the kind that lulled you into the darkness and never let go, Metropolis was the opposite but had its own set of imperfections. No matter how many times he came here, Damian simply could not get used to everything this city represented. Most of all, he couldn’t get used to hanging out at Jon’s apartment. Though the atmosphere over there, one full of warmth and love, wasn’t foreign to him. It was something he experienced every time he went to visit Richard.

“Here,” Jonathan said as he flew back to where Damian was sitting, a box of donuts in his hands. “I hope you enjoy these donuts that I had to spend all of my allowance on.”

Damian smirked as he took the box from him, “I think I will,” he said, just to spite Jonathan. While he didn’t hate nor love sweets, he had often heard Richard rave about a store in Metropolis all the time. He constantly urged Damian to go there and since he hadn’t seen his brother in a long time now, these donuts could act as a stand in for the night. 

As Damian opened the box and took out one sugar coated sweet, Jonathan hovered in the air beside him, pretending to look at the sky while occasionally peeking at him. 

“Is it your life’s purpose to annoy me, Kent?” Damian asked, brows raised as he turned to the kyrptonian. 

“Maybe it is. What are you going to do about it? Whine?” Jonathan shot back and hearing his words, Damian almost smirked. 

There was a time when his friend used to be scared of him, mostly because even though Jonathan was part alien, Damian was the one who was far from being a normal human. But now, after teaming up for so long, they had grown used to each other’s company to the point where they could tease each other without there being any malice behind the words they said. 

“Are you sure you wish to test me, Kent?” Damian asked, threateningly pointing his donut at Jonathan. 

But his actions just made Jonathan roll his eyes, “Whatever,” he muttered before settling down beside Damian. 

As the two sat in silence, Damian pushed the box of donuts towards Jonathan. 

“Really?” Jonathan asked, a bit surprised. 

“You did a decent job tonight.” Damian shrugged and even though he had said ‘decent’ Jonathan had known him long enough to know that he was proud. 

“Glad I could make you happy, partner,” Jonathan said before taking a big bite of his treat.

As Jonathan munched on his donut happily, Damian couldn’t help but smile. 

_ Partner.  _ He liked the sound of that word. It made him strangely happy but then again, why wouldn’t it. When he was young, he never really expected to have a semi-normal family where people could show affection without being deemed weak and now, not only did he have that but he also had friends. He had someone he could depend on.

If someone were to tell eight year old Damian that someday his life would change so drastically that he would eventually be loved by the people around him, he would have scoffed. He would have said that only fools believed in a weak emotion like love. But now, things were different.

He was glad that his life had changed.

He was glad that he had changed.

And most of all, he was glad he was loved.

**Author's Note:**

> ICO! MY ADORABLE SMOL BEAN! HAPPY BIRTHDAY! For a day we've been talking about for months, I can't believe your birthday is already here. Thank you for being the amazing person that you are and constantly being a source of happiness in my life. I love you loads <3


End file.
